China’s Press Freedom Record under Scrutiny at the US Congress

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a Federal Congress-chartered advisory body, has just held hearings on China’s compliance with international press freedom standards.

The Commission —which monitors, investigates, and submits to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the US and China— heard testimonies about access to information and media control in China.

One of the panels, focusing on information control and media influence associated with the Olympics, included the testimony of Lucie Morillon (above), Washington Representative for Reporters without Borders, who gave a detailed account about China’s dismal press freedom record during the run-up to the Games.

Morillon acknowledged that the Chinese regime “is releasing an increasing number of stories only in English about previously taboo topics (…) while keeping this information out of the reach of most Chinese citizens.”

She indicated that whereas the government is more willing to provide information to the media, they have exerted an even tighter control over what is published by the media, and those who dare crossing the information line, pay dearly.

“Several Chinese dissidents who dare to call for improvements of human rights in the run-up to the Games have ended up in jail,” she testified. “Among them are blogger Hu Jia and Yang Chunlin. We call them the ‘Olympic prisoners’.”

As for the Chinese government’s promises to allow national and international media “complete freedom to report” during the games, Morillon said those pledges “have been blatantly violated with regard to the work of Chinese reporters, who are still subject to very strict censorship.”

She added restrictions have increased for foreign journalists to cover events in China to the point where access to areas such as Tibet or earthquake-ravaged Sichuan has been either restricted or completely cut off.

She also mentioned tightening Internet regulations, which were implemented in January “under which only websites that are licensed” by the government “are able to post videos and audio files online. Videos and audio files ‘attacking national sovereignty’ will not be tolerated,” Morillon said.

Other areas of concern about Internet restrictions for RSF include content that refers to ethnicity, pornography, gambling or terrorism or any other content that won’t “serve socialist ideals and the Chinese people,” she said quoting a government edict.

“With China’s record as the world’s champion of Internet censorship,” she added, “we are concerned that Web freedom won’t be guaranteed during the Games — which would be a violation of the terms of the Olympic contract.”

Underlining the fact that the press freedom situation in China has not improved, she reminded the Commission’s members that that country holds an infamous world record.

“All these restrictions would not be surprising as they come from the country that is the world’s biggest prison for journalists, with 30 reporters and 48 cyber-dissidents behind bars,” she said. “There are twice the number of journalists in jail now than there were in 2001, the time when we were promised ‘complete press freedom’.”

Morillon also testified about the Chinese government’s manipulation of the Chinese people’s perceptions about the Western world and the protests that the running of the torch ignited in many countries. The regime’s message to the people was that everything was fine and that the protests were the deeds of “small groups of activists.”

“Their strategy was to manipulate public opinion,” she said. “Dissent was not tolerated. This approach is shaping the Chinese people’s perception of world affairs.”

Finally, Morillon urged the Commission to use its influence for the US to step up the pressure on China both before and after the Games to achieve the following goals:

—Release all journalists and Internet users jailed in China for exercising their right to information.
—Disband the Publicity Department (formerly the Propaganda Department), which exercises daily censorship over content in the Chinese press.
—Stop the blocking of thousands of news and information websites based abroad.
—Suspend the “11 Commandments of the Internet,” which lead to content censorship and self-censorship on websites.
—Lift the ban on Chinese media using foreign news agency video footage and news reports without permission, which is a violation of the World Trade Organization agreements.

Morillon’s full transcript of her testimony can be found here.